Rotary storage cabinet



Sept. 12, 1967 D. SCHECTER ETAL ROTARY STORAGE CABINET Filed Oct. 21. 1963 FIG. 2

United States Patent 3,341,266 ROTARY STORAGE CABINET Donald Schecter, Washington, D.C., and Stanley Skalka, Arlington, Va., assignors to Victor Stanley, Inc. Filed Oct. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 317,842 3 Claims. (Cl. 31211) This invention relates to a rotary storage cabinet and more particularly to a rotary record cabinet which is adapted to conveniently store approximately 150 long playing record albums.

An object of this invention is to provide a piece of furniture which is able to store record albums in a minimum amount of space, but in such a way that one can conveniently find the record album desired.

In the past, long playing record albums were placed in enclosed structures or horizontal racks for storage, and owners of large record collections found ditficulty in locating the album of their choice since the album covers were concealed and therefore not visible to the eye.

The patents to Mears, 1,445,340, Sentell, 925,236, and Vastolla, 1,397,940, are all exemplary of enclosed rotary record cabinets and the pertinent patents known to us.

In recent years, the album jackets have been made with attractive covers and the present invention attempts to display these beautiful album jackets.

With the albums exposed, one can easily rotate the bottom shelf of the storage cabinet in the present invention and select his favorite album by merely getting a glimpse of the jacket cover.

Another object of this invention is to make two pieces of furniture in one by adding a table top above the rotating storage cabinet.

Still another object of this invention is to incorporate the features of a coffee table with a rotating storage cabinet, that is, enlarging the table top and supporting the top at an extended end with a pair of legs.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a combination rotary record storage cabinet and table 1 supporting a plurality of record albums. The vertical sectional view of the device in FIG. 2 shows a plurality of glides 2 secured to a triangular base 3. A bearing plate 4 is attached to the top side of base 3 and an annular ball bearing means 5 is secured to the to side of bearing plate 4.

A rotary shelf in the form of an annular disc 6 is supported on ball bearing means 5. Disc 6 acts as a supporting shelf for the record albums. A post 7 of circular cross-section extends through openings in the center of bearing plate 4 and base 3 where it is held fixed normal thereto. Circular post 7 extends upwardly through the central opening in annular disc 6 whereby disc 6 is free to rotate freely about post 7 on ball bearings 5.

A tube 8 houses an annular ring 9 which is secured to the inside walls of tube 8 and flush with the bottom edge of tube 8. Tube 8 is secured to the top surface of annular disc 6 by a pair of bolts 10. Upper annular ring 9a is similar to the lower one. Both rings '9 and 9a are loosely spaced about post 7 to permit relative rotation therebetween. Tube 8 serves a number of purposes. It acts to hide the post 7 and adds beauty to the cabinet. Also, it serves as a stop for the record albums.

The upper end of post 7 is secured to a circular table top 11. Top 11 carries an annular support 12 which acts as a housing for the upper end of post 7.

A plurality of rods 13, acting as dividers, are radially "ice dis-posed about tube 8. Their free ends extend into two rings of openings, inner ring 13a and outer ring 13b, in the top surface of annular disc 6 where the rods 13 are frictionally held in place. Rods 13 are disposed normal to annular disc 6 and the spaces between the rods are of such size as to hold 5 or 6 record albums in a radical manner, as shown in FIG. 1. It has been found desirable to place 24 rods about tube 8. Rods 13 extend upwardly from annular disc 6 for slightly more than half the distance between disc 6 and table top 11. With the rods arranged in this manner, the upper area of the cabinet between the tops of rods 13 and circular table top 11 is open whereby more of the album jackets can be seen and easy access for cleaning the entire storage cabinet is achieved when the record albums are removed therefrom.

A power wire support means 14 is pivoted by a screw means at 15 which is attached to the bottom surface of table top 11. On the outer end of wire support 14 there is a U-shaped opening 16 which acts to support a power supply wire, for example, for a lamp or a portable record player (not shown) which may be supported on circular table top 11. The end of wire support 14 extends outwardly beyond the ends of the record albums to avoid tangling of the wire when the albums are being rotated. If wire support 14 is not in use it may be pivoted into a position underneath table top 11.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, table top 18 is extended outwardly past lower annular disc 6 in one horizontal direction to form a coffee table 17. The extended end of coffee table 17 is supported by a pair of legs 19. Hence, base 3 of the record storage cabinet supports table top 18 at one end and legs 19 support it at the other end.

The rotating annular disc and all its adjunctive parts are identical to the rotating portion shown in FIG. 2 and annular disc 6, rods 13, and tube 8 all rotate about post 7 on ball bearings 5 while table top 11, bearing plate 4 and base 3 remain stationary.

What we claim is:

1. In combination, a table and record storage cabinet comprising: a base means having upper and lower surfaces, bearing means engaging the upper surface of the base means, an annular disc having an upper and lower surface, the lower surface of said annular disc engaging the bearing means, tube means, said tube means secured to the upper surface of the annular disc in vertical alignment with a central opening in the annular disc, a circular vertical post means, said circular vertical post means secured to the base means and extending upwardly through the central opening in the annular disc and continuing upwardly through the entire length of the tube means, the central opening in the annular disc being of slightly larger diameter than the circular post means but of less diameter than the tube means, a circular table top, said table top secured to the upper end of the vertical post whereby the circular table top is supported above the annular disc and closely spaced to the upper end of the tube means, a plurality of divider rods, said divider rods being radially disposed about the tube means and supported vertically from the annular disc, each of said divider rods being curved and having two free ends, the curved divider rods extend upward a short distance above the annular disc then form a substantially V-shaped curve with the bight of the curve positioned more than halfway above the annular disc and the circular table top, two rings of openings in the annular disc disposed about the tube means which receive the free ends of the curved divider rods and frictionally hold the curved divider rods in place, one ring of inner openings evenly spaced around the tube means adjacent thereto and an outer ring of openings evenly spaced around the tube means adjacent to the outer periphery of the annular disc whereby the curved divider rods are each disposed in an inner and outer opening to form a radial pattern.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein the table top has an extended portion disposed outwardly in one direction past the outer edge of the annular disc, leg means, said leg means supporting the table top adjacent to the outer end of the extended portion.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1, wherein a wire support means is pivotally secured to the underside of the table top adjacent to its outer edge, said wire support means extending outwardly past the outer edge of the annular disc, said wire support means having a U- shaped outer end which is adapted to support a power supply wire for a lamp or the like which rests on the table top.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 347,278 8/1886 Ruth 312252 X 951,664 3/1910 Swan 21156 1,191,003 7/1916 Hughes 31211 1,213,026 1/1917 Sande 108103 1,340,364 5/1920 Bentley 31213 1,445,340 2/1923 Mears 31211 1,472,570 10/1923 Snider 312252 1,892,408 12/1932 Paalman 108-103 1,974,735 9/1934 Botham 21177 2,605,160 7/1952 Boddy 21178 X 2,899,074 8/ 1959 Gullixson 21140 FOREIGN PATENTS 36,199 1/1930 France.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

FRANK B. SHERRY, CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiners.

A. FRANKEL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A TABLE AND RECORD STORAGE CABINET COMPRISING: A BASE MEANS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES, BEARING MEANS ENGAGING THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE BASE MEANS, AN ANNULAR DISC HAVING AN UPPER AND LOWER SURFACE, THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID ANNULAR DISC ENGAGING THE BEARING MEANS, TUBE MEANS, SAID TUBE MEANS SECURED TO THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE ANNULAR DISC IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT WITH A CENTRAL OPENING IN THE ANNULAR DISC, A CIRCULAR VERTICAL POST MEANS, SAID CIRCULAR VERTICAL POST MEANS SECURED TO THE BASE MEANS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THROUGH THE CNETRAL OPENING IN THE ANNULAR DISC AND CONTINUING UPWARDLY THROUGH THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE TUBE MEANS, THE CENTRAL OPENING IN THE ANNULAR DISC BEING OF SLIGHTLY LARGER DIAMETER THAN THE CIRCULAR POST MEANS BUT OF LESS DIAMETER THAN THE TUBE MEANS, A CIRCULAR TABLE TOP, SAID TABLE TOP SECURED TO THE UPPER END OF THE VERTICAL POST WHEREBY THE CIRCULAR TABLE TOP IS SUPPORTED ABOVE THE ANNULAR DISC AND CLOSELY SPACED TO THE UPPER END OF THE TUBE MEANS, A PLURALITY OF DIVIDER RODS, SAID DIVIDER RODS BEING 